Do not forget families and households when addressing Urban Refugee Education

Abstract

There are currently more than 25.4 million refugees globally, representing the largest number of refugees in recorded history (UNHCR 2018). More than one in three refugees who fall under the auspices of United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) protection are of school age (UNHCR 2019a). Dryden-Peterson (2015, 2016) points out that much of what is known about refugee education stems from research conducted in high-income countries of resettlement, ignoring the reality that the majority of refugees live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) neighboring their countries of origin. Additionally, 60% of refugees globally reside in cities (UNHCR 2019c), where UNHCR coordinates with host countries to integrate students with refugee backgrounds into the national education system (Dryden-Peterson 2016). We attempt to contribute to this literature while highlighting the importance of family and household factors in urban refugee education. ... This brief report draws on three authors’ (DN, JS, JT) continuing work with refugee populations in Kenya and, more sp